Sixty
by LuminereLucifer
Summary: Two players wait for their time in Aincrad to come to an end. One-shot.


The first thing I noticed were the figures that hovered before my vision. _6, 0._ Square, like the numbers on a digital alarm clock, just like the one I'd had at home before this whole mess had started. The same shade of blue as the veins in the back of my hand. As I stared, the numbers changed; _59, 58.._.

It was a countdown. I pushed my black hair back over my shoulder, the way I always did when I was frustrated. _Brilliant. _Maybe this was the last time I'd ever do it.

It wasn't difficult to guess what it was for, I mused, stifling a sigh. Otherwise the ultra-rare revival items wouldn't make much sense. There was little sense dwelling on it, however. Maybe someone would get me out of here, and maybe they wouldn't. If it was the latter, there was nothing I could do, so no use crying about it. Ignoring the numbers now, I looked to my right, to see the sky spilling orange and pink into the clouds, darkening rapidly as the sun sank down behind me. But glancing down was what made my stomach try to escape through my open mouth.

I was floating. _Again, brilliant._

"No! Kotori! KOTORI!" a hoarse shriek from behind me made me swing around in surprise. A boy was stood, or rather hovered, there. Probably of about fourteen or fifteen, a good three years younger than I am. Was. His hands were balled at his sides in fists, and his hazel eyes streamed tears, leaving stark tracks down his cheeks. I was sure he hadn't been there a moment ago, and blinking, I became conscious that the _"60"_ was displayed in front of him also.

"Hey, hey!" I growled, snapping him out of it. The _"60",_ changed, as mine had. _59, 58..._ He sniffled, and drawing the back of his hand over is face. I realised how scrawny he was as he looked over at me. We stared uncomprehendingly over at each other for what felt like hours, but must've been only moments.

"Is this...?" he finally asked, his voice cracking as he trailed off. He was shaking, twisting his hands in his shirt. A bad habit, I assumed.

"I think so." _49. _With a long drawn out sigh, I sat down, crossing my legs, facing away from Aincrad, and screwed my eyes shut. I didn't want that hell-hole to be the last thing I saw. There was a brief silence- more than I'd had for over a year, but it was broken almost immediately.

"What... what are you doing?" the boy asked hesitantly from behind me.

"Waiting." I told him. I didn't turn, but instead leant back onto the palms of my hands, and looked straight upwards into the sky. Stars were starting to appear, smiling with superiority down at us. But they weren't real, were they? Just a collection of pixels. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement, and looked to see him sitting down beside me. He hugged his knees to his chest, which made him look delicate and child-like.

"So what happened to you?" he asked quietly, shakily. _40. _I eyed him suspiciously, before it occured to me that there wasn't really anything to be suspicious about anymore.

"Nosy, aren't you?" I said anyway, shooting a glare at him. He flushed, and looked away, mumbling an apology. "My guild miscalculated something."

"Which guild?" we weren't making eye contact anymore. The boy had stretched his hand out in front of him, as if he were trying to reach out into the sky. The light threw strange shadows over his face. I grimaced. My mother had been a Christian. What was it Christians did? Confession, or something?

"Laughing Coffin." There was a silence. _34. _It seemed like someone was deliberately slowing the time down, but I guessed sixty seconds_ is_ a long time if you're waiting.

"Why?" This time his voice came so soft it was almost inaudible.

"What?" I asked, not understanding.

"Why?" he said again. It wasn't that he thought I hadn't heard him. He didn't feel the need to elaborate. Why was I doing this? I pinched the bridge of my nose, and lay back, gazing to the heavens again.

"My little brother needed protection. I couldn't do it by myself. They promised that if I joined them, he'd be looked after." I gave a dry laugh. "I wonder if they'll kill him now that I'm not providing the services I promised any longer."

"And what happened?" He stayed sitting up, his hand still silhouetted, black against the brilliant orange of the clouds.

"Went to dispatch of some little guild that were causing trouble. Underestimated them." My hand went to my sword and I drew it, slowly, turning it this way and that in my hands. It glinted prettily in the light. It had served me well the last few years. _29. _"And you?" I asked suddenly.

"We- we were hunting in the forest. Got attacked by some red players," he swallowed "not sure who. Kotori, my friend... she got riled up and ran her dagger through one of them. But then the others... grabbed her and someone got me from behind. I hope she's okay."

"Well, on the bright side, if she's not here, she's probably still alive." _24. _

"... I guess." It was really starting to get dark now- the sky was now mostly navy, tinged with peach at the edge of the horizon. Had I never noticed how quickly the sun set in Aincrad? Just then, I had a thought, and sat up abruptly. "Wait, Kotori? Skinny little brat, brown pigtails?" Despite my slightly off-putting description, the boy nodded. "Shit."

_"Shit."_

"What is it?" he asked, but I was already standing up, holding my sword loosely in both hands. _18. _I didn't really know why I was saying all this, but I answered anyway.

"Kid, I'm sorry, the forest..." I turned, with an attempted smile that turned into a grimace. "That was us. We attacked you. Kotori stabbed me," I tapped my stomach where the knife had pierced through, though it looked completely unharmed now "and it was a buddy of mine who took _your_ life."

He blinked, bewildered, and a hand went to his neck where he'd been executed, most likey without him realising he was doing it. _15, 14... _I was acutley aware of the back of my mind screaming at me to panic, that these were my final moments. But these _were_ my final moments. I wasn't going to waste them running around like a headless chicken.

"It's okay." The boy surprised me, standing up too, though he was still dabbing at the corners of his eyes. He gave a watery smile. "Let by-gones be by-gones and all that right? It doesn't matter anymore."

_10. _It doesn't matter anymore.

_9. _I turned and grinned at him. Genuine. The first genuine smile I'd given anyone for as long as I could remember.

_8. _At first, he looked surprised, but it only lasted a millisecond before he gave a smile in return. There were still lines in the dirt on his face from his tears.

_7. _I raised my sword above my shoulder, hefted up in victory like I'd seen the leaders of the Guild do countless times before, but I wasn't reflecting them.

_6. _I was undermining them.

_5. _I drew back with all the strength that I could, pausing to shoot a sideways glance at my new companion. He was watching with silent admiration, and understanding. He knew.

_4. _In one movement, I tossed the sword out in front of me. It disappeared in an arc of silver light, just as the last of the sun's rays slipped out of sight.

_3. _I turned back to the boy, and stuck my hand out in greeting, aware that I probably looked a little crazy, but not caring. "Mai," It was _my_ real name "Tsukino Mai." I hadn't said it out loud in at least two years.

_2. _"Sato Kaede" he replied. His grip was weak. "...Nice knowing you." I laughed, and so did he. It was loud, resonating.

A good sound.

A brave sound.

_1. _"Goodbye."


End file.
